Architectural Design 3: AIR JOURNAL

Min Zhang (Kelly)_389708

UK PAVILION by Heatherwick Studio 01 Architecture as a discourse

Richard Williams states:"Architecture is as much a philosophical, social or professional realm as it is a material

one, and it is through the consideration of architecture as discourse that one can engage with it as visual culture... approaches to architecture: architecture as a form of art;

architecture as a symbolic realm; and architecture as spatial experience."

The wavering external surfaces of the Seed Cathedral form a delicate connection between the ground and the sky. It looks like a mass sculpture sitting in the centre of the site. This

is how Heatherwick studio aiming: "bring architecture, design and sculpture together within a single practice. "

Structurally, This piece of art not only gain attention through the dramatic and attractive facade, but also creates curiosity how the building can be constructed. 'The dandelion

pavilion' was doubted could be done, due to its complex form. Eventually, it's constructed successfully by 1 metre thick wood diaphragm framing.

For our gateway project, should attempt it in different built form rather than a traditional built form through computational or physical modelling.

Lighting effects from Interior views

Inspired from the lighting effects and materials

'The UK Pavilion is 20 metres in height, formed from 60,000 slender transparent fibre optic rods, each 7.5 metres long and each encasing one or more seeds at its tip. During the day, they draw daylight inwards to illuminate the interior. At night, light sources inside each rod allow the whole structure to glow.' The lighting technology can be referenced for the gateway project. Utilise the passing car lights to create glowing surface of the structure through reflective materials.

Richard William also common on how is architecture developing as a discourse, "Although attention may perhaps have shifted from the building facade, which, with modernism, has mattered less and less, to what the architectural historian Kenneth Frampton has caBed the 'tectonic'. which is to say, an aesthetic concern with the structure of buildings.“

Sunrise Tower is designed by Zaha Hadid, becomes a skyscraper in Malaysia. This is a multi-functional building including offices, hotels, shops, private housing and large underground garage. The tower rises to a height of 280m, and it's contained 62 overground and 4 underground floors. Computational technology allows the innovation for progress of shifting the facade into a structural skelton in order to achieve stability of the whole building. The building is wrapped by the perforated outer "skin" which is the building envelope.For the gateway project, we can focus on transferring a facade into a structural form building to create dramatic geometric form of the design.

SUNRISE TOWER by Zaha Hadid 01 Architecture as a discourse

CRYSTAL ISLAND by Norman Forster

02Architecture as an innovation

Contemporary computational design helps to solve problems and raises more architecture possibilities to modern world through innovation. 3D structures are able to be transferred from through digital modeling to real construction consistently and accurately. - Achieve large scale architectural design- Efficiency of produce design process and construction accomplishment. - Unlike traditional design method, allows the design expressed in "smooth" curve structure an d achieve structural stability, which towards to future innovation computational design.

Parametric design using computer technology has led to a new way in architectural design. Designers now can create spaces and structures in a more continuous sense, instead of making individual “blobs”, they can consider the building as a whole and generate ideas by making and placing parametric forms.Relate back to our gateway project, this project is more convincing to discribe how computational design can be achieved a structural design rather than a facade.

Kalay states: " they always have side effects and aftereffects, which may render the solution unacceptable for reasons not directly associated with the problem itself."

This photo capture has proofed that the design can be done by grasshopper and can be seen as a parametric design. Rotat and repeat one spiral several times by using a fixed reference

This is a design proposal for a large-scale public square in Manama, Bahrain. The project focuses on providing a metropolitan platform that not only links the city's historical urban fabric and the new modern together but also encourages pedestrians to meet and stay under a sheltering pavilion structure. Again computational design allows the "skin" of architecture express structural and special form effectively. The feature of 'organic' in this design proposal emphasis humanity is more centralise now. Also it reveals how computation assists the designers to contribute their creativity on innovating such large scale design and dramatic built form. The designer utilizes computation skill to develop an idea to achieve better life style and living conditions. In another word, the building form is not only achieving artistic beauty but also the functionality and new idea like 'organic design' approaching.From this project, we are inspired to attempt complex pattern of the facade but achieving very pure simple form structurally through

computation design.

Urban Oasis by Influx Studio in Manama,Bahrain

02Architecture as an innovation

" Expression of Interest" 03 SCRIPTING CLUTURE

"At its simplest... facilitaing a far greater range of potential outcomes for the same investment in time."

Scriping Cluture has been engaged since 19C. Until now, it has become more mature and common use in the architetural design process through years and years development. Degital design speculation provides opportaunities for the designers to create much greater range of possible outcomes.Improve the efficiency of conducitng design outcomes, reduce the limitations of aproaching protential possiblities of the design outcomes. From JMP's 'Transformation of King's Cross Station', degital design assists to achieve such extraordinary geometry form work and provide better design conditions for large scale design like this. This dramatic interior space creates very spectacular view for passages getting on or off from this station. This King's Cross station becomes a piece of monument architecture in London.

the transformation o f K i n g ’ s C r o ss station b y J o h n M c A s l a n +

Partners (JMP)

london

Exploration of Prametric Model in Metrix 04 CUT Definition-Matrix

Started with a ‘surface’, play with the pattern that could be created with group of cirles, -as the circles getting smaller or getting bigger.

First attempt to change the shape of the origin “surface”.

Attempted to play with the surface created by ‘larger circles’. It gives very different patterns compared to the images on the right page. This set of CUT definition can help to achieve more irregular size of the ‘circle’ to create different patterns.

Attempted to get more dramatic visual impacts by ‘twisting’ the orign ‘surface’ to get a flowing and smooth structure-like digital model. They can be with different kind of pattern as a “facade” appearance.

A twisted ‘surface’ expressed by zise of the circles gradually changing from large to small. This outcome is not closer to achive a ‘smoothy’ structure.

Airspace Tokyo 05 Case Study

Airspace Tokyo is a four-storey, mixed use residential and commercial building,which is designed by Tokyo architect Hajime Masubuchi of Studio M. And the public faces of the building were developed by the Faulders Studio in San Francisco. The screen conceived as a protective airspace. The cellular design and double layering of the screen is like the lush vegetation. In the night, the screen modulates views in and out of the building, and casts shadows of the geometric voids onto the street.In fact, I like the way they explored the lighting effects through layering the panels with irregular circular hollows. Howerer, for our gateway project we can do more than that, which is not just a deign of ‘facade’. We can create an more stable tridimensional and vivid structural “object”, - Explode the whole structure without skin.

Airspace Tokyo 05 Case Study_Digital madolling

This photo capture shows the outcome of the case study, which is created from Rhino and Grasshopper. Randomly create several points in Rhino on a plan and use these points as center-points to create circles form. Set boundaries between the edges of circles, to stop them from reaching each other. Inorder to express the cirles in a irregular shape, the distance between centers need to be changed.The outcome is very successful to show the organic and random patterns. We can utilise this simple panel in Rhnio to create as much as possilble 3D digital models or physical model through prefrabication.

We use the ogirinal outcome to create some other varible outcomes through increasing increasing number of points, rearranging points, changing radius of circles and resetting boundaries. They are all shown below.In order to create a more structure-like model for our gateway project. The most with less hollows and the eages is thick and stronge enough is chosen to work through our gateway project modelling making, which is the one cirled in red retangular.

Exploration of ideas and modelling 06 Process of physical modelling for Gateway project

Premiler ideas: 1. Overlaying the single sheets 2. Ramdonly lean the single sheets together

1.Overlaying the 3 single sheets, this outcome is very similar to our Case study- facade through multiple sheets overlaying each other. This very simple facade form design could give us very impressive starting point.

2. Ramdonly lean the sigle sheet togetherAttempting to make the 2D ‘facade’ panel to stand towards a 3D structure-like object. There are 3 sheets leaning together to be able to stand. However, we need to explore on the idea of materials used to achieve this kind of structue to be stable. And the created shadows under structure looks like another layer of patterns crossing with boxboard sheets.

2. Ramdonly lean the sigle sheet togetherIn order to make the structure to be more stable by itself, we use half of the sheet to connect a trianglar combined by tow other sheets. Looking through structure, with shadow on ground and structure above, created a tunnel of the pattern. This the initial idea that we generated from- inspired us to design a gateway goes across the highway above head and allow the vehicle travel through a tunnel.

Acrylic

Steel

Reflective Material

Exploration of ideas and modelling 06 Process of physical modelling for Gateway project

After approaching premite ideas, we worked on materiality and how the lights from the environmental conditions can contribute to our design.

Apply different colors to each layer. To achieve reflective effects from the lights naturally grenerated from the environments by apply different materials to the design. We decided to have three layers. From outside to inside, there are: Steel (Dark), Acrylic (Transparent), Reflective Material (Red).These three layers have three levels of reflecting light. 1. Reflective Material (Red) has the highest level of reflecting light, it will reflect the car-light at night that obvious for drivers to see, has similar function as a traffic sign and vehicle back light. 2. Refraction and reflection will both happen in acrylic, will make it glowing at night when car-light shine on it. 3. Dark color steel will observe most of the light and reflect a little, therefore it will be harder to see at night. Steel is the strongest material in these three, it also function as the most load bearing layer for the structure.

We also explored the lighting effects of our premite ideas in night. It creates a mock nite sence how the car lights would ineract to our design while the vechiles travelling through this short of tunnel.LIGHING EFFECTS EXPLORATIONS

Exploration of ideas and modelling 06 Process of physical modelling for Gateway project

Physical model cannot achieve ideal twisting and hard to keep twisted shape stable.Instead using single sheet, we found out several sheets joining head-to-tail to each other make it easier to twist and form relative smoother surface at the inside of curve. Sheets insert into each other at the edges, may need more stable joints in real-life construction, such as large steel screws to hold two parts together.

EXPLORING ‘‘SMOOTHLESS” OF THE STRUCTURE

This is one of our physical models that is generated from twising and materiality, which is more stalbe to be standed.Three multiple-layer sheets are overlayed and jont together to create this simple flowing structure form. Structure load transfer from the top to two bottoms of the arch.In the future design, we may have several identical arches along the highway, increase the distance that car would travel under the gateway.

Finalise the design concept and physical model 07 Approaching to a closed final physical model for Gateway project

Different from the Case Study, we rearranged the sheets to overlay them onto each other with the pattern facing the same direction.More complex pattern was created by changing the space between each two sheets.Changing the angle of sheets to make them “flowing”.

Looking into the hollows, there is sense of extending into a channel. We found interesting if we can apply it into our design.Instead driving along the side of the structure, this idea is to driving towards the structure, maybe travel into the hollows of layers.

Finalise the design concept and physical model 07 Approaching to a closed final physical model for Gateway project

Another trail of overlaying idea by using more felible twisting and curving model making material- polypropylene sheet, eventurally a totally different to the previous one physical model is generated. Each piece is hanging down slightly in a different degree of curve by its natural load. The curves’ degree become smaller towards the direction where the cars will travel from. Cars will drive under the structure into the channel that formed by the hollows of layers. Compare to the previous design, the shadow is more regular because of the overlay.

Another new interesting structural form is created after we pour water on this physical model.With this structure, sound of car driving pass will also be deflect towards different direction, may reduce noise pollution for neighbor areas. Wind load is very small because of the numbers of hollows. Rain water fall through the holes, reduce the live load on structure. Curved shape roof make less air pressure on top of it when wind travel pass, which can cancel amount of structure dead load. If we choose acrylic as main structure material, the whole structure will glowing when car-light shines on it. In this case we can have different color of acrylic for each sheet.

Finalise the design concept and physical model 07 Approaching to a closed final physical model for Gateway project

Week 8 Project presentation feedback

Site plan, indecation of our proposed project.Project Presentation Feedback From the TUTE 1. How to make the struture stand stably for our proposed gateway project?2. What materiality can be approached and applied to this design intent of lighting and stable strucure?3. Think of the size and scale of the design against to the site.4. How can the design get attention to the three main roads in the highway? Need to reidentify the location of the design.5. Connection(joint) for each piece of the sheets?

Rethinking and some throughts:- In oder to make the whole strucuture more stronger, we may reduce the size of the hollows at the botton and make the top hollows to be relatively bigger. So the botton parts of the structure can stay in stronger and support the whole structure.